The boss of Adidas, Herbert Hainer, said he would still like to work with Sports Direct after he said he would pull Adidas’ best-selling replica shirts because an improvement of presentation was needed in Sports Direct stores.

However despite the war of words, Herbert Hainer said the German company was still keen to work with Sports Direct.

Herbert Hainer said: “Our main objective is definitely to improve the situation with the retail partners. I don’t know exactly how many stores Sports Direct International has in England, but it is definitely a lot. I want to see our brand get good presentation in all these stores, the same with JD and you name them.”

Hainer said Adidas is in “permanent discussion” with Sports Direct and is planning to fly to the UK for talks in a few weeks.